This tune is from the Theory Section where we are exploring alternate tunings. Here we use Double Drop D tuning.

To tune from standard tuning to Double Drop D just pick your middle D string and lower your high and low E strings until they match.

One of the great things about both Drop D and Double Drop D tunings is the fact that you can easily get some lovely alternating basslines.

This is down to the fact that the root and 5th notes are adjacent to each other on the lowest 2 strings. These 2 notes have the strongest tonic relationship, so always go well together (played together, they give us 'powerchords'). Folk and Country musicians often use alternating basslines, in combination with fingerpicking - like we do in this ActionTab.

Notice how we alternate between the two adjacent bass notes Low D (root) and A (5th) in this fingerpicking tune.

Drop D tunings are very well suited to alternating basslines - and this includes playing higher up the neck, not just for the open position. Remember, it is very easy to fret across both Low strings with just 1 finger. So as you shift chord shapes up and down the fretboard, you can easily find the root and 5th nearby in the bass!

In this Double Drop D tuning we also use the high D string to get some rich chords and a lovely tune. Because the high D string is tuned down by 2 frets, you can find some new, great-sounding chord shapes that would be harder to do in standard tuning. The chords in this tune are pretty easy to do, but sound good!

For those interested, here's the chord progression:

D major - A major - D 6th - A major (Repeat)

G major - C m add9 (Repeat)

Just cycle through that chord sequence until the final full D major chord.

Experiment with this tuning and try out familiar chord shapes to see what happens. Then, mess with them. Try out different fingering / fret positions etc. That's the easiest way to start getting to grips with any alternate tuning. Don't worry about chord names right at the start. You can work those out afterwards!